


Hanging On A Frequency

by SpiderButler



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: bad date AU, radio au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 06:25:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5486939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiderButler/pseuds/SpiderButler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well, that does sound awful. Did you like her?” David says.</p><p>Emma glares at him. She feels bad for Killian- she’s fairly certain that he has no idea who he’s speaking to. </p><p>Killian and Emma have a terrible date, and later that night Killian calls in to Emma's radio show to talk about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hanging On A Frequency

**Author's Note:**

> Title from 11:59 by Blondie

_This is a terrible idea. This is the worst idea ever._ Emma swaps between cursing David, her co-host on her radio show (and best friend), and herself, for agreeing to this idea in the first place. She’s currently sat in her car, across the street from the restaurant, which she is supposed to be arriving at in five minutes, for a blind date. And that much is fine, to be honest. David and his wife, Mary Margaret, have set her up with men before- Graham the cop, who was sweet and good company, and they’d been on a few dates, but ultimately they were both coming out of bad relationships, and it was too soon. They still talk, still meet sometimes, but it’s never progressed any further. Then there was Walsh, the furniture shop owner, who was nice and Emma enjoyed spending time with him, but he had wanted to move faster than she had, and they had eventually decided they were better off apart. 

No, the _blind date_ is not the problem. The problem is that it’s _Valentines Day_ , and David’s already warned her that Killian (?) has been burned by love before, and recently at that. He didn’t tell her any details, only giving her warning that it could be a sensitive subject. Lastly, Emma has to go straight from the date to the station, in order to start her late night show on time. Which means David will be waiting for a full report (and deciding whether he needs to punch anyone). 

It’s these factors which make Emma dread the moment she has to walk through the door and meet her ‘perfect match’. She’s considered calling the number David gave her and telling him she’s ‘so sorry, but she’s really ill, and will have to miss out on this one’ many times. _Come to think of it, she has been feeling a cold coming on…_ she shakes herself out of it- it’s too late to cancel now, she just has to stomach it and get on with the night. She checks the clock on her dashboard, and when she sees she has two minutes left, she takes a deep breath, braces herself, and opens the car door.

______________________________________   

Killian Jones is drunk. He’s drunk, and sat in a restaurant by himself waiting for Mary Margaret and David’s ‘amazing friend’, who’s ‘just perfect for you, Killian’. The small sober part of his brain knows that he’s probably making the situation worse with his level of intoxication. It’s bad enough that the table he’s sat at is surrounded by couples, it being ‘the day of love’, the atmosphere of romance suffocating, but when he’d looked at himself in the mirror forty minutes earlier, all smart and unnaturally perfect, crisp white shirt and combed hair, he’d been unable to resist grabbing the bottle of rum. He’d changed into a navy shirt, leaving a couple of buttons undone in a much more Killian-type style. The earring had gone back in and his hair had ruffled itself.

It wasn’t that he was still pining over Milah. He’d reached the point where he’d accepted what had happened and he was moving on with his life. When Mary Margaret had suggested this it had seemed like a great idea, a good way to fully cement his over-Milah status. But then the night had come, and he’d found out quite suddenly just how not ready for this he was, and he’d swallowed it down with a lot of rum. He just hopes that he doesn’t make too much of a fool out of himself (which is seeming increasingly likely, as the alcohol appears to have removed the filter in his brain, and he’s struggling to suppress words that should not see the light of day). 

He’s pulled out of his thoughts by the legs of the chair opposite him scraping against the floor. His head snaps up to see a gorgeous blonde in a tight red dress seating herself, her eyes curious. He takes in the golden tresses that fall over her shoulders, and her sharp cheek bones and thinks he might actually have butterflies. The fact that she seems like the type to have a knife tucked into her garter does not help. 

“Well you’re bloody hot.” He cringes internally at his words. Hot. The line was bad enough, but _hot?_  

Immediately there is an apprehension in the woman’s eyes, and it strikes Killian that he can’t remember her name and _wow this is off to a great start._  

“Thanks.” The word is uncertain, and Killian can’t believe he’s managed to put his foot in it this badly already. Her eyes are studying his appearance, and Killian hopes she can’t smell the rum on him. 

“So, what’s your name?” He asks bluntly and _oh my god stop talking._  

She hesitates for a moment, and Killian wonders if she’s going to bail already. “Emma Swan.” She says. The name seems familiar to him, but he puts it down to Mary Margaret and David telling him. He can’t think of any other reason he could recognise it, without knowing her face. 

He decides it would be a bad idea for him to steer the conversation, so he simply looks at her, hoping that he’s conveying with his eyes that he’s sorry. The look on her face tells him he’s not. Still, she takes the lead, starting up conversation about his work and Killian finds he can talk about his and Liam’s boat design company with more ease. Emma seems to be relaxing slowly as he talks and Killian does too, which may be why he somehow lets the alcohol warp his mind again as he brings Milah into the conversation. Emma doesn’t stop him, but he can see the walls go right back up again.

______________________________________   

Emma stiffens as the man opposite her begins talking about his ‘last love’, and more importantly, _her husband._ It starts off as a simple story about taking her sailing, which, whilst a little uncomfortable, is conversation related. But then he seems to get into the memory of his ex, and Emma is now positive that there is a slight slur in his words. He begins telling stories about his ex exclusively, from how they met, to their dates and romantic moments, and Emma is beginning to feel less like this is a date and more like an unwilling therapist. She sits in silence as he recounts a memory of a birthday, she can’t remember if it’s supposed to be his or hers, and sips her wine, praying that he doesn’t decide to tell her about their bedroom activities of that night. Luckily, the waiter comes before he can get that far, and they order. It seems to shake Killian out of it a little, as when the waiter is walking away from their table he sits up a little straighter, and focuses on her. 

“So, how do you know Mary Margaret and David?” 

Emma shifts in her seat as well. She definitely will not be calling this guy after tonight, but she can at least _try_ to enjoy the night a little. 

“I’ve been working with David since we were in college, and I met Mary Margaret when they got together. I’d seen her around campus, and we had some of the same friends, but we’d never actually spoken until David introduced us.” 

Killian nods a little awkwardly, and Emma wonders if he knows what she and David do. They had run a show on their college radio station, and had been picked up by a big broadcasting company as soon as they graduated. It was quite big news at the time, the pair of barely adults who had captured the corporation’s hearts. She’d assumed it would have come up at some point, but maybe not. 

“I’ve known Mary Margaret for a while, we became quite good friends after she brought her class to our company for a school trip.” Killian says. “She invited Liam and I to Thanksgiving when she found out that it was just the two of us, and that’s how I met David.” Emma’s not surprised. Her friend is so unbelievably motherly that she wouldn’t have been able to resist offering her hospitality to the two men. It strikes Emma that she may have met Killian before if she hadn’t gone back to Ingrid’s for Thanksgiving, and she’s not quite sure whether she regrets it or not.

______________________________________   

 _This is good. This is ok._ Killian settles back in his chair as Emma explains her connection to their mutual friends, and it’s easy for him to offer his own story. Emma doesn’t seem all that interested in him romantically, but she’s still friendly, and Killian hopes it means he can change her mind by the end of the evening. He takes a sip of the wine he’d barely touched, in the hopes of sobering up, and immediately finds that it is a bad idea. It appears that the alcohol has not left his system as quickly as he thought, and the new shot of it brings back the high level of intoxication. He can hear the slur in his words as he speaks again, and the small sober part of his brain that had told him this was a bad idea withers and dies. His brain is whispering stupid things to him that he struggles to contain, telling him to ask her back to his, or maybe even just as far as the restaurant bathroom, which _wow so classy._

He manages to keep these words behind his lips, but can’t stop the suggestive tone that covers his words even during their perfectly normal conversation, making everything sound like a euphemism. That’s when he gives up completely, and downs the entire glass of wine. Emma raises an eyebrow at that, but says nothing, finishing her story, and sitting back waiting for him to speak.

She had been talking about covering some pool event, swimming or diving or something, and Killian wonders how she ‘covered’ it (he’s still not quite sure what she does, and Killian should probably ask). He thinks she said something about it being a college competition (he definitely heard the word college) and it’s just too convenient, too easy for him to make jokes about ‘getting wet’ and ‘dripping’ and Emma seems to be less and less impressed, and at this point she doesn’t even bother to pretend she’s not checking the time on her phone. Their food comes and neither of them say anything, eating in silence. Killian hopes he’s drunk enough that he forgets this by tomorrow.

______________________________________   

Emma wants the ground to swallow her up, or a meteor to hit, or anything. She’s still got two hours before she has to be at the station, so she has no excuse to leave. Killian seems to be getting more and more drunk, and the amount of innuendos, both subtle and definitely not subtle, is increasing with time as well. She’s desperately looking for a reason to bail, considering texting Elsa and asking her to call her with an emergency, when Emma feels a cough building up, and suddenly she has inspiration. She stifles it, clearing her throat instead, but she feels how it scratches at her throat, and when she begins to speak it’s with a slight croak. 

“I’m really sorry, but I’m suddenly feeling very ill. I think I should go.” 

It’s not Emma’s finest piece of acting, but she’s fairly certain Killian is too far-gone at this point to notice. 

“Are you sure?” Something flashes across his face, but Emma shakes it off, grabbing her purse and quickly placing the money for her meal on the table. She’s already pulling on her jacket as she answers, out of her seat and ready to go. 

“Yeah, I’m really sorry.” She offers him an apologetic smile and quickly walks away, not even bothering to say goodbye. She stops only once she is safely down the street from the restaurant, taking a deep breath. She gets in her car and drives around aimlessly. Her coughing starts up again and she’s glad she has time to pick up some cough medicine before the show starts. 

With her detour to the store (and a quick outfit change at her apartment), she arrives at the station with around 45 minutes before the show. She uses the time to get herself a cup of hot chocolate from the coffee shop next door, and it helps to soothe her throat. Combined with the medicine, the coughing stops, but her voice is still husky, and she finds herself clearing her throat a lot, in an attempt to bring it back to normal. When David arrives, 20 minutes before the show, he raises an eyebrow at her outfit, a pair of old jeans and a comfortable sweater, but doesn’t say anything. He does make fun of her voice though, and Emma flips him off as they head up the stairs to wait for Ruby to finish her show. 

Ruby signs off, and puts on a long song, sliding out of the booth. She greets them both, and assures Emma that her voice ‘sounds hot and mysterious’. She and David get into the booth and set up just in time for the song to finish.

______________________________________  

Killian doesn’t wait long after Emma leaves. He pays for their meals and leaves the restaurant, ignoring the looks he gets from the people around him. He walks the twenty minutes to his apartment, and, once inside leans back against the door. The February air has helped to sober him up, enough that he can mostly think clearly, and also reflect on quite how badly that night went. He changes into a pair of sweatpants and a shirt, and pours himself a glass of water. The apartment seems too quiet, too empty, so he turns the radio onto a random station, whilst he drinks endless glasses of water to try to stop the inevitably bad hangover tomorrow. 

The girl on the radio is cheerful, chatting away about the songs and the artists, and some competition the station is running. Killian doesn’t pay much attention as he grabs a sketchpad and a pencil and mindlessly etches lines, doodles and designs. He doesn’t really notice the girl signing off or the song she plays, but something peeks his interest in the voices that speak after it. The man sounds a lot like David, but Killian is pretty sure he would know if David was on the radio. The woman’s voice sounds familiar too, but the more Killian tries to place it the less familiar it seems, so Killian shrugs it off and lets it wash over him. They play a few songs, chatting about them, or current events, or Valentines Day, and Killian finds their banter amusing, the man arguing for it, and the woman against. The woman introduces a new segment, urging the listeners to call in and share their embarrassing and awful Valentines experiences. 

He pays more attention as the calls come in, men and women talking about being cheated on, awful dates, and one woman who found out her long term boyfriend was gay. The man and woman keep up a sympathetic yet humorous commentary, and Killian doesn’t know whether it’s the alcohol, the regret or the boredom that makes him pick up his phone and call in. It picks up and it’s weird hearing the DJ’s voices both on the radio and down the phone at the same time. 

“Hello, caller, I understand you have a terrible story to tell us?” The woman’s voice prompts and Killian is certain he recognizes it. 

“Yes. It happened tonight actually.” 

“Wow, still raw.” The man sounds sympathetic.

______________________________________   

David and Emma share a look of sympathy for the man on the phone. “Let’s hear it.” He prompts. 

“Well,” the man launches in. “My good friends decided to set me up on a blind date, I think they were trying to help me get over my most recent ex.” 

David’s eyes meet Emma’s again and Emma is praying that this is not Killian, because she hasn’t even had a chance to explain what happened yet, but if she adds a slur and a suggestive tone, it sounds very much like the man she just left in a sat at a table looking slightly confused. David’s eyebrows get further up his forehead as the man ( _Killian_ )’s story continues, and he doesn’t look away from Emma. 

“Anyway, I agreed to go, but as the time came closer I began to realise that maybe I was not as ready for it as I thought.” Emma considers this- it did seem unlikely that David and Mary Margaret would set her up with someone who drank so much. “So, I turned to liquid courage in the hopes that it would get me through the night.” Usually Emma or David would offer a quip or a joke, but both are too interested in Killian’s words, and Emma vaguely wonders what their listeners are thinking. “However, it seemed to affect me more than I realised and I was really rather drunk by the time I got there. She was absolutely stunning, and my first words to her were ‘you’re hot’. It went downhill from there, as I proceeded to become more drunk from the wine I was drinking, and I got sleazier and sleazier. I also talked, in detail, about my ex. Eventually she said she was ill and ran as fast as she could.” 

There’s a pause, and then David speaks. “Well, that does sound awful. Did you like her?” 

Emma glares at him. She feels bad for Killian as she’s fairly certain that he has no idea who he’s speaking to. “I did. She was kind to me even when I was a bloody tosser. And it didn’t hurt that she was gorgeous. She took my breath away.” Emma feels the blush warm her cheeks. 

“And if she happened to be listening right now, would you say something to her?” Emma narrows her eyes at her co-host again, who gives her an innocent smile. 

“I would apologise for my bad form tonight, and say that I would not have blamed her if she’d thrown her wine in my face.” Emma smiles at that. He does seem like a sweet guy, and hearing his story she can understand his actions. 

“Well, thank you for your call. I hope it goes well, maybe you can win her back.” David gives Emma a meaningful look. 

“I doubt it, but thanks mate.” Killian says, and the call disconnects. 

David quickly introduces a song then, and when the ‘off air’ sign lights up he leans across the switchboard towards her. “That was Killian.” 

“It was.” 

“Emma.” He gives her a no-nonsense look, and she sighs. 

“What?” 

“I think it’s pretty obvious that he’s _very_ interested in you.” Emma doesn’t say anything and it’s David’s turn to sigh. He puts a hand over Emma’s in one of his ‘big brother’ moves. “I’m not saying you have to do anything. It’s entirely up to you. I understand why you left the date. But now you’ve heard his side of the story, can you please just think about it?”

Emma hesitates, but nods, and David gives her a small, warm smile. She relaxes back into her chair, and the show seems a little easier somehow. She even signs off with “to all those people who told us their awful Valentines stories, and those of you who didn’t share but have them too, maybe you will find a Valentine’s miracle will happen to you.” David laughs at the rhyme, and signs off officially, putting on a song for the changeover between them and Will, the British guy who was only allowed on late at night because the producers were worried he’d say something not child friendly (which he has been known to do).

______________________________________   

Killian laughs at the woman’s words. _A Valentines miracle._ “I’ll need a bit more than that to win the lovely Swan, love.” He says to the empty apartment as he flips the sketch pad closed, and stands from his seat. He’s walking towards his bedroom, ready to sleep for a good twelve hours, when his phone rings from his jacket, which is hanging over the back of a chair. He considers leaving it, it’s probably David wanting to talk about the date, but he knows that the man will keep calling if he doesn’t pick up (maybe he was lucky Emma didn’t come back to his after all), so he fishes it out of the pocket and sees the words ‘D &MM’s friend’. He freezes for a moment- there’s no way Emma’s calling him- but hope sparks in his chest, and he picks up just in time. 

“Hello?” His voice is a little breathless, and he hopes he doesn’t sound too excited. 

“Hi, it’s Emma?” She sounds a little unsure, but not nervous. 

“Hi.” He facepalms at the word- was there nothing else he could have said?

“So, I think we got off to a bit of a rough start tonight. I was wondering if you’d like to meet tomorrow morning for coffee, and maybe we can get to know each other a bit better?” 

“I would love to.” Killian is beaming now, and doesn’t care if she can hear it. 

“Great. Is eleven ok?” Killian has a feeling she’s setting a time to accommodate for his hangover, and he chuckles. 

“Sounds good.” 

“Ok. I’ll text you the address. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye.” Killian hangs up the phone. He’s still for a moment and then he lets out a cheer, a wild grin on his face. A Valentines miracle indeed.

______________________________________  

(He does have a terrible hangover the next day, and Emma laughs at him, but it just makes him smile, even if moving too much hurts his head) 

(He finds out what she does two weeks later, when they’re tangled up in his sheets and each other, and he blushes and rolls over with a groan to plant his face in a pillow as she tells him about answering his call. But Emma also tells him she thought it was sweet and it was what made her change her mind and Killian thinks maybe it’s not too bad then) 

(He also turns on the radio every evening to listen to Emma and David’s show, but he’ll never tell her that- or the fact that only the sound of her voice, so happy and light, makes him grin like a Cheshire cat)

**Author's Note:**

> I quite like the idea of this universe, so I might make this a series.


End file.
